Weddings are quite different——from nation to nation, from area to area, and from the past to the present. However, all people consider weddings to be important and happy events.
People in the Western world go to church for their weddings, while some tribes（部落） in Africa hold their weddings in the open around a campfire, with much dancing.
In China, weddings are different from those abroad. People in the countryside used to carry the bride in a sedan chair from her parents' house to her new home. Now sedan chairs are seldom seen. Instead, the bridegroom may take the bride to their own new house by bicycle or by tractor（拖拉机）. In the city the bride usually prefers a car, brightly decorated(装饰) with flowers and a Chinese character(汉字) meaning double happiness. However, a wedding dinner is necessary in both the countryside and the city. Relatives(亲戚) and friends who are invited to the dinner usually drink to the happiness of the bride and bridegroom.

    You might be surprised to learn that India produces about 800 movies a year, and that number continues to grow. Just as the center of the American film industry is Hollywood, the movie center of India is Mumbai, known 1 Bombay. “Bollywood” is a combination (结合) of the 2 “Bombay” and “Hollywood”.

    Bollywood is not a physical place. Some people 3 the name, saying that it makes the industry look like a poor cousin to Hollywood. 4, Bollywood is one of the largest centers of film production in the world.

    No Bollywood movie is thought complete 5 a few songs and dances. In fact, music is an important part of Bollywood movies. Even a bad movie can still be 6 if the music is good. Because of this, music directors are sometimes more popular than actors. A Bollywood movie has five to six songs in it, often explaining what the dances mean. A film's success often 7 on the quality of such musical numbers. In some ways, Bollywood has been influencing 8 films in the western world since the 2000s.

    Bollywood may be different from Hollywood when it comes to musical style, but it is very 9 to Hollywood in several ways. Bollywood hero Shark Khan uses a gun just like Hollywood star Tom Cruise. News reporters follow Bollywood stars just as often as Hollywood stars. The personal lives of Indian actors and actresses catch the headlines, just as 10 do in the United States.

    There are so many expressions in American English that sound pleasant (令人愉快的)but are not. {#blank#}1{#/blank#} When someone says they have to "face the music", it does not mean they are going to a concert. "Facing the music" means to accept and deal with the punishment of an action.

    {#blank#}2{#/blank#} For example, "I can't face another night of camping! It's cold and rainy." Or "In life, you must face your fears." Face used in this way is very common.But now, let's go back to facing the music. Imagine a friend asks you to take care of her beautiful red sports car. She gives you the keys and says, "Thanks so much for watching my car while I'm away. But please, do not drive it. It is an extremely (极其) fast car." {#blank#}3{#/blank#} You want to show off to some friends. So, you drive it around town one night. As bad luck would have it, you lose control of the car and drive it into a stop sign. Bang!

    When your friend returns you must tell her what you have done and "face the music". {#blank#}4{#/blank#} It could be losing her friendship or paying for repairs to her sports car or both. Whatever the music is, you must face it.

    {#blank#}5{#/blank#}To "take your medicine" means to accept the results from something bad you have done. And if someone says, "You made your bed. Now lie in it." they mean you created a bad situation and now you will experience the results!

A. But you do not listen.

B. "Face the music" is a good example.

C. The "music" here is the result of your actions.

D. Americans often use the word "face" in this way.

E. There are other American expressions that mean the same thing as "face the music".

    There is a new novel called The 33rd Student. It's very unusual because 32 students wrote it together.

    Students from Class 1, Grade 2 of Hangzhou Qingchun Middle School began to write the novel last October. This March, they finished their 330, 000-word story.

    It was Zhou Hui, the class's Chinese teacher that had the great idea. Some students thought writing was boring. Zhou wanted to change their minds. The class had fierce（热烈的） discussions about the storyline and main character.

    The novel is a story about Nan Yao, a student new to Class 1.Nan is a tall boy with tanned（晒黑的） skin. He is from Hebei.

    Each student was assigned（分配） one part to write. Together, there are 32 stories about Nan's life since he came to Class 1.Students tried their best while writing the story. Huang Yiying, 14, said she got up at midnight to write down the idea for her story. Chen Tianbai, 14, wrote about a birthday party. He found it hard to imagine. So he held a party for his 14th birthday, wrote down what happened and turned it into his story.

    Zhou said most students revised（修改） their stories three times." Now, none of them are afraid of writing. They have written so much themselves!"

    The novel will be printed（印刷） and each student will get a copy. "It will be a very precious（宝贵的） memory for them." said Zhou.

    A four-year-old girl is lying in the arms of a doctor. She has just become mother-less. A bomb destroyed her home and killed her mother.

    Every day we see pictures like this on TV or in newspapers. We see young Iraqi children begging for food and water from American and British soldiers. They move through towns and cities towards the capital, Baghdad. We see these children following grown-ups, carrying bags of things almost the same size as their small bodies as they run away from their homes.

    "Dad, why are the Americans attacking us? Are we going to be killed? "asks the son of Abu Sinar, an lraqi engineer. Abu finds it hard to explain this war to his eight-year-old son.

    He tries to comfort him by saying, "The bombs are far away from us. The Ameri cans are fighting the soldiers. We are going to be all right. "Abu knows this isn't al-ways the truth, but what else can he do? In Baghdad, parents give their children sleeping pills to make them sleep so that they won't hear the sound of bombing. And all the schools are closed.

    "All we can do is to listen to and hear the war, "said Abu." People in Baghdad, men and women, young and old, have to live in fear. We don't know where the next bornbs are going. We can do nothing but wait to be killed. "